It’s important to spend some time getting to know the artist and their act before the action commences. I try to have a chat with the lighting guys when I get to a venue, just to gauge what kind of show they’re putting on, the types of lighting being used and whether the artists will be well lit. It’s also beneficial to search for images of the same artist from other events if you haven’t photographed them before…

When an artist is touring they will tend to take the same show to each venue so, unless you are covering the first date on a tour, there will be photographs circulating that you can view just to get an idea of what to expect. This will give you some advantage when covering the gig. You can also get a good idea of the stage presence of an act – whether they move around a lot or simply stay in front of their mic stand.”

However, even with the best possible planning, much of what takes place is completely spontaneous, so part of the skill of live-music photography is in the ability of the photographer to work quickly and respond when something that they didn’t know was about to happen occurs, as photographer Mark Latham explains.

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